Transformers: Rise of the Pretenders
by nikesilvermoon
Summary: When Cybertron rendered uninhabitable, Hot Shot abandoned his home along with his fellow Autobots. Taking refuge on a backwater planet called Earth, he tries to live out an ordainary life just like any other human...as a Prentender. But Hot Shot is about to discover that he is not alone on this planet, and a dark force is about to arise.
1. Chapter 1: Escape from Cybertron

**Hey guys, I decided to revise this whole story so the plot would flow more smoothly. Hope you enjoy!:)**

* * *

**Chapter One: Escape From Cybertron****  
**

The war between the Autobots and Decepticons have gone to it's breaking point. Not only did the Allspark had to be rejected into space, the Autobots discovered that the Megatron has infected Cybertron with Dark Energon, poisoning the planet to it's very core. Though the core shut down so it can begin reparing itself, the process would take millions of years, rendering the planet uninhabitable. During this time, Cybertron slowly became a barren lifeless piece of metal floating in space.

During this time, Autobots, Decepticons, and Neutrals (though most of them fled at the beginning of the war) were forced to abandon the planet. Spaceship after spaceship ignited their fusion drives and blasted off into the stars, leaving the cold, lifeless planet behind. Eventually, only a few Autobots and Decepticons were left to guard the remains of their home.

Hot Shot watched sadly as he stared out at the lonely landscape stretched out before him. Being one of the only Autobot mechs stationed here on the planet, Hot Shot had never felt more lonely in his life. He was sure that he was the last Autobot left on the planet, wishing that he could travel with his comrades into the stars.

Cybertron has once been the center of a powerful intergalactic empire, ruled by the Cybertronians. But frag no. This slagging war just had to be started because a dumbaft mech named Megatron wanted to overthrow the Cybertronian government and become Prime.

Or something like that.

At the battle of Tyger Pax, Megatron was ALMOST successful in securing the Allspark. ALMOST. Thanks to the efforts of the young Autobot scout Bumblebee, Optimus had enough time to launch the cube into space, away from Decepticon hands.

Sure, Bumblebee was honored as a courageous warrior and all. But, the young scout paid a heavy price for his predicament. Upon being discovered by Megatron, the ruthless Decepticon leader didn't hesitate to tear Bumblebee's voice box out.

As a final effort to defeat the Autobots, Megatron ordered his Decepticons to infect the entire planet with dark energon. Despite of Optimus Prime's best efforts, the infection managed to reach the very core of Cybertron. With it's natural abilities of producing energon, Cybertron was slowly dying and was becoming uninhabitable to Transformers.

Starring out on the lifeless landscape, Hot Shot tried to look at the bright side of his current situation. He chuckled, "Well, at least most of the pit-spawn Decepticons have also left . Not to mention I'm also scheduled to go soon." Blue optics glued towards the sky as the lonesome Autobot thought of abandoning his home.

The landscape that endlessly stretched out before Hot Shot's cerulean optics was nothing like compared to Cybertron's surface before the war. Once glorious, prosperous cities were now nothing but heaps of ruined buildings festering in the passing eons. The once pure blue sky turned a permanent black due to smoke emission from infinite battles. Once Cybertron had gleaming metal surfaces, now it's metals had been charred by burns from Energon blasters.

Less than three decaorns ago, the last remaining handful of Autobots and Decepticons left on Cybertron prepared to leave the planet through the Autobots Ship: the Ark, and the Decepticon ship: the Nemesis. It was a day when many of his comrades died. And the day he lost a dear friend.

Shaking his helm, Hot Shot attempted to clear his processor of these memories. Whatever happened in the past, the damage was done. No one can change it.

But you can always change the future, thought Hot Shot. He can only hope that Optimus and his small but elite four-bot team will succeed in finding the Allspark and bring it back to Cybertron.

"Well, there's really no point sitting here mopin' around," Hot Shot thought aloud to himself. Reluctantly, the stood up and stretched. Sitting around staring at the horizon for several joors sure made a transformer's joints lock together like the ruins of Macchu Picchu. You can even stick a knife through the cracks between the rocks. (Ok, I know Hot Shot didn't know of the Incans but come one, a little simile wouldn't hurt)

After a moment of pondering, Hot Shot decided that he was going to return to "base." The "base," which was really nothing but a bunch of computers and sensors in a run-down shack, should have enough intel of Cybertron's current status by now.

Transforming into his somewhat sporty vehicle mode Hot Shot sped down the ruined streets of what was once the glorious city of Iacon. It was in ruins now, thanks to this no good war between Autobots and Decepticons.

Hot Shot stopped and transformed before a hidden door in a inconspicuous Iacon alleyway. Sending a signal ping to the door, the panel slid back in response and Hot Shot found himself in a room full of blaring computers and beeping sensors.

It was the alarm of one sensor that immediately caught Hot Shot's attention. Eyeing a computer screen with his optics, the Autobot cursed when he saw what the sensors had picked up.

There right above where the base was, hovered an incoming Decepticon in the disguise of a Cybertronian jet.

"Oh no, it's Overhaul," groaned Hot Shot.

* * *

"Frag! Why does a Decepticon have to attack now?" Hot Sot cursed to himself as he hurried outside of his "base" and charged up his cannons. There was a streak of silver as a Cybertronian vehicle drove out of a little alleyway so he could get a better view of his enemy.

High above the ground, blood red optics zeroed in onto the ground. The attacker flashed a hidden smile when he found his target. As if on que, the hovering Cybertronian jet's metal surface began sliding back to reveal changing gears and more shifting plates. Seconds later, the Cybertronian jet had been replaced by a rather large mech.

Unlike Hot Shot's sky blue optics, this mech had bloody red ones with a murderous glint in it. Instead of the noble red Autobot symbol, flanking the mech's armor was the proud purple insignia of the Decepticons.

His armor was a mix of silver and dark blue, with a few white highlights here and there. The gruesome glint in those blood red optics were designed to strike fear whoever stared into it.

Meanwhile on the ground, Hot Shot just zoomed out of his "base" and was currently activating his cannons. Processor telling him it's time to go into battle mode, Hot Shot's cerulean optics scanned for any possible signs of his incoming enemy.

Suddenly, a shrill whistle registered in Hot Shot audio sensors. Abruptly whipping his head around, the Autobot screeched in surprise as a missile barely missed him. Hot Shot began hyperventilating after the near-offline experience, cycling air in and out of his vents exceedingly quickly.

Great, the missile just gave the indication that Overhaul was right behind him. Charging up his cannons, Hot Shot fired at another incoming missile, actually hitting plus incinerating the projectile this time. And then he saw him Overhaul.

Hot Shot's archenemy was just hovering there in the air in front of him, sneering in pleasure of picking a fight with his archnemesis.

"Hot Shot, it's so nice to see you again," sneered Overhaul, not stressing the sarcasticness too much.

"Get out of my turf, you slagging piece of gitch head! You are a sorry excuse even for a fragging pit-spawned Decepticon!" Hot Shot shouted right back. Without another word, the rather reckless and young Autobot launched himself at the ruthless Decepticon.

As the new mechs clashed, they attempted to fire at each other. Both had their cannon blasters charged to max power. While Overhaul was way more brawny and had more powerful energon blasters, Hot Shot had a medium build and dogded all his fire with incredible speed and agility.

The sound of metal scraping metal echoed off the abandoned planet of Cybertron as two twenty foot mechs clashed with each other. Rolling and dodging, Hot Shot attempted to avoid Overhaul's energon blasters while he tried to angle his own laser weapon at the mech's legs. A body is no good if you can't move around.

Finally, he managed to strike a blast on to his enemy's shoulder. Overhaul screamed in pain as bright blue energon poured out of his shoulder. Hot Shot took a moment admire his amazing aim. His stray shot had directly hit one of the main energon fuel lines.

"YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS AUTOSCUM!" growled Overhaul as his cannons charged into energon blades.

Hot Shot smirked at the Decepticon's misery as both transformed and let blades slide out of their arms. The two mechs then engaged into a swordfight, both equally matched against their opponent.

Anyone who watched would've felt their jaws drop open in amazement. The two mechs were master fencers. Both did amazing series of flips and turns while they tried to stab each other to death.

The blades of Hot Shot and Overhaul met in a death clash. The blades crossed, each trying to take the other down while their wielders put all their strength into the effort. Hot Shot's eyes glowed a determine blue while Overhaul's eyes flickered a murderous red.

Without warning, his ship sent him a alert. Hot Shot was shocked to learn what the proximity sensor had picked up this time. The sensors had found faint residues of Allspark energy on a distant planet millions of light years away from Cybertron!

To his rotten luck, Overhaul seemed to sense that Hot Shot have gone on high alert. The Decepticon pushed the Autobot's blade back and hissed at him," You're hiding something from me. Tell me and maybe I'll reward you with a swift painful death!"w

"FRAG YOU, DECEPTICREEP. I"LL NEVER TELL YOU THAT MY SENSORS LOCATED FATE ALLSPARK RESIDUE ON A PLANET MILLIONS OF LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM CYBERTRON!" Hot Shot shouted back. He gasped and covered his metal lips, cursing himself for his own stupidity.

"Allspark energy residue eh," the Decepticon stated thoughtfully. "I might as well go check it out." He sent a ping to his ship, which suddenly appeared over the alien horizon.

"NNOOOOOO! I WON'T LET YOU LAY YOUR DIRTY SERVOS ON THE ALLSPARK!" Hot Shot bellowed, latching onto the Decepticon as he climbed aboard the ship.

"Allspark energy residue detected in uncharted part of space at these coordinates," the ship's AI said as it began flashing coordinates.

Shoving Hot Shot off him, Overhaul commanded the ship," Set course for those coordinates imme-"

Before he could finish what he was saying, Hot Shot recovered and slammed into the Decepticon's burly body from behind. As a result, both mechs slammed into the ship's console... big mistake.

The ship's computer screens began flashing warning signs. "Alert, alert! Intruders detected! Repeat, intruders detected! Emergency plan: shutting all mech's aboard into stasis lock to prevent further attack."

"STOP! OVERRIDE COMMAND!" roared Overhaul, but it was already too late.

As a stasis field came sweeping over the two wrestling mechs, the last thing that Hot Shot saw was the ships leaving the familiar reaches of Cybertron, drifting off into the unknown.

* * *

Earth Year 2001

"ALERT. ALERT. SHIP ON CRASH COURSE. STATUS:SEVERELY DAMAGED FROM GOING THROUGH UNCHARTED ASTEROID BELT. PLANET: UNKNOWN." Hot Shot groaned as he slowly onlined his optics. Suddenly, everything came rushing back to him. Overhaul, to his mighty relief, was still in a deep stage of stasis lock.

Wait, did the ship say that it was on a crash course onto a unknown planet?!

Panicking, Hot Shot shot a look at the ship's monitors. The planets was heavily populated with organic life. Judging by the calculated trajectory, the ship was going to burn up in the thick atmosphere because of the crash angle!

Without a second thought, Hot Shot meddled with the ship's controls, trying to alter to crash course. Thankful that the Decepticon was still in stasis, Hot Shot finally managed to make the ship level to the prople degree...and crashed onto what appeared to be a replica of the Sea of Rust? Emerging from the spaceship, Hot Shot looked around in frustration. All around him, miles and miles of seemingly endless...pebbles?.. seemed to stretch out around him. There was even a strange spiked organic organism growing near the crash crater. But no signs of sentient life much less machinery. Can this planet just give him damn vehicle to scan?

A sound of approaching footsteps in the soft sand dunes made Hot Shot look out into the horizon of the desert. There, just over the ...pebbles...dunes, a band of... organic creatures... riding on the back of other organics were traveling. Hot Shot quickly ducked into the ship. When the coast was clear, he made sure the ship was hidden well and the Decepticon was still in stasis lock.

Hoping the organic creatures might lead him to something, Hot Shot went back into the ship to grab a mass shifter, a portable energon refiner, some energon, and set off following him. They led him to... a city?

Hot Shot sighed in relief when he saw that the organics riding on the backs of the other organics were indeed sentient. The city that spread out before him was not only a bustling metropolis... but it had TECHNOLOGY! Though they appeared to be way more primitive than the Cybertronians, the organics had computers.. even the World Wide Web! Hot Shot quickly downloaded as much information as he can, especially in language. Thank Primus, now he can finally scan a vehicle and get out of here!

_Wait_, he thought._ The stasis field will not last forever, so the cons is going to wake up sooner or later and he might alert the alert the other that the Allspark might've crashed onto this planet... I don't have the necessary equipment to hide my spark signature if I scan a vehicle mode. But I can do it if I scan a Pretender disguise... _

Hot Shot sighed, due to the current circumstances, he have no choice but to choose a organic disguise. After quickly downloading images of the sentient organics... oh, they call themselves humans they they were riding on camels, and this was Cairo, Egypt... off the web and scanning the nearby ones, Hot Shot retreated behind a dune and prepared to slip into his organic disguise.


	2. Chapter 2: Joshua Henrichson

**Chapter 2 : Hot Shot, College Student in Disguise**

**12 Years Later**

**Earth Year 2013**

The breezy winds from the sea sweeped across a rather large city full of bustling people and cars. Students groggily sat up in bed while businessmen and women conducted their day to day business. Since it was morning, the arid climate hasn't really sunk in yet. But the streets were already crowded full of people going to school or work. It was just another day in the bustling urban metropolis of Los Angeles.

The campus of UCLA was busy with activity at this time of the day. Lines of cars seem to stretch endlessly down the rather narrow suburban streets as ongoing students waited for their turns to park their cars at school. The students also arrived in an amazing multitude of sports cars, sedans, crappy camaros, bicycles, motorcycles, and walkers.

But these modes of transportation was NOTHING compared to what was pulling up the front parking lot of the high school right now. People gasped and started taking pictures like they did every day when they saw this car pulling up onto campus.

The new arrival was a Lamborghini Ferruccio Concept Car. That means it hasn't even been released to the public yet! Onlooking students and teachers alike started oohing and ahhing as they eyed longingly at the car. The Lamborghini, like all the cars of it's kind, was deadly hot for a car. The concept car was painted a white-silver color that gleamed in the sunlight. Streaks of white and back ran along it's sides and doors. Many girls rushed up the greet the owner of the expensive car when the driver door opened.

A teenage boy with light blonde hair stepped out the rare car. He was sporting a dark blue T-Shirt, black leather jacket, a pair of light gray men's skinny jeans, and a pair of ultra white converse. Literally all the girls in the parking lot squealed with delight when they saw the blonde surfer dude come out of the car.

The now obviously popular guy grinned as he lifted his black shades up, revealing startling blue electric eyes. All the girls stared longingly into the guy's eyes. No one's eyes have been ever so blue that it even seemed to blow at certain times.

"Josh! Josh!" screamed the girls as they all pushed at shoved in attempt to get to the hot dude.

The blond surfer dude who owned the Lamborghini Concept Car was dubbed as the most popular guy in school. The college junior's name was Joshua Henrichson, or just Josh for short. Outgoing, friendly, handsome, and an infamous prankster among the students of UCLA, he was a perfect sixteen year old boyfriend (in the girls' case)/ hommy (the boys' case) to have around.

Josh grinned as he called out to everybody, "Hey guys, hows it going to- OWW!" He was cut off when he suddenly tripped and purposely dropped onto his own crotch, feigning pain. Everybody grinned back in amusement, clearly he was faking it.

Josh's face broke into a smirk," Don't worry... it looks like my balls haven't quite woken up yet." A roar of laughter followed, though some onlooking teachers frowned at the level of pervertedness of the joke. No one even seemed to notice that the school bell rang, signalling the start of class. That was until the principle came out of his office to see exactly what the hell was going on.

"ALL RIGHT GUYS, ENOUGH OF THIS ! IT'S TIME TO GO TO CLASS NOW!" the principle shouted, clapping his hands together to get attention.

Not wanting to disobey their principal, the students dispersed, still snickering in amusement of Joshua's latest joke.

As the students were dispersing, the principal wagged a finger accusingly at Josh. "Young man," he warned with all seriousness. "Pull a joke like that again and you will be sitting in my office." Josh thought he was serious until the principle's composure broke down into a laughing, shaking body. The surfer dude patted his back before hurrying to his homeroom.

* * *

To Josh, school was just so plain and boring sometimes. Sure, all the stuff they learn there is exciting but it does get a little bit old sometimes. The humans were young, primitive, and definitely fragile... but they're capable of achieving great things and hold great potential for the future of their race.

Throughout the day, Josh went to his same old classes. Astronomy, biochemistry, quantum mechanics, molecular biology, genetics, astrophysics ... Science has always fascinated Josh. Sure, Earth's science was primitive compared to Cybertronian science but definitely worth learning.

Today's astronomy lesson definitely had Josh perking up in interest. Over the last two weeks, the class had been learning xenobiology... or astrobiology. Since humans haven't discovered any provable evidence for aliens yet, most of the science is just speculation. Yet Josh was fascinated by the creativity these little organics had and the inferences they drew upon... amazingly logistical since the only evidence they've gathered is observation and speculation.

Today, the astronomy teacher, Mrs. Jackson, was explaining how life could have formed, envolved, and was like on other planets. She even introduced to Josh and the others the Drake equation, created by the astronomer Drake in an attempt to calculate the probability of having sentient life in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Josh couldn't believe that humans could go THIS FAR in an attempt to understand the world around them.. he admired them for that, even though the equation was absolutely ridiculous. The centuries of war on Cybertron has completely halted any attempts of scientific investigation and discovery.

As the bell rang, signaling the end of the period, the blond surfer dude sighed in disappointment He wanted to learn more about human views in extraterrestrials. Gathering up his stuff, Joshua then proceeded to the cafeteria, trying to ignore the stares from passing girls in the hall.

"Drake equation... remind myself to do more research on that," muttered Josh as he started browsing the net on his mobile phone. He was so into his work that he didn't notice someone approaching him from upfront.

"Hey Josh, whassup?" a cheery voice called out.

"Huh?" Josh's heads whipped up to see one of his best friend Sam Whitwicky waving cheerfully at him from their usually seated area. Sitting with them was their little hangout group of Sam's girlfriend Mikala Banes, Miles Lancaster, Former High School Jock Trent DeMarco, Sam's cousin Brad Whitwicky, and the twins Alex and Stephen Streaker.

"Oh hey guys!" Josh smiled as he brought him lunch sat down with his friends. Some witnesses murmured to each other.. why would such a popular guy be hanging out with such normal people? Fortunately, Joshua learned to tune out sidetalking a long time ago.

"Josh," Mikala and Brad greeted him warmly before bumping knuckled with him and Trent.

THe twins, Stephen and Alex, yelled," Dude, whassup?!" before hitting him on the back... hard. Josh could only groan in pain. Miles, meanwhile, just stayed silent a nodded at him. Unfortunately, Miles has always been considered one of those oddball students and still was kinda uncomfortable around popular guys. Josh was happy that he and Miles got along just fine though.

Josh grinned in acknowledgement of and sat down to eat him lunch. Lively conversation always flowed from their group's lunch table. Today, the topic of discussion was extraterrestrials.

"Have you guys heard about the Drake equation?" Josh asked the group curiously. All of them nodded.

"That equation that calculates the number of sentient species or something..." Sam asked.

"Yeah, I just learned about it today and want to hear what you guys think of aliens," Josh announced, eyeing the whole group. The twins groaned and then face palmed. Normally, Josh was a really outgoing, friendly guy who jokes around a lot but when he thinks about something... he gets all serious.

"Well, I do think that it was aliens responsible for the attacks on Egypt, Mission City and Chicago," Miles finished with a little cry of pain when both Mikaela and Sam nudged him hardly on the shoulder.

"Miles... remember... classified..." Trent hissed through gritted teeth.

"Oh yeah... sorry... but Josh was just wondering.." Miles trailed away muttering while Josh just eyed the entire group quizzically. Brad, Stephen, and Alex looked uneasy while Mikaela, Sam and Trent glared at Miles Lancaster.

"You were saying.." Josh began uncertainly.

"Well, there are rumors that the US Governments was hiding aliens," Stephen began.

"And they shut up whoever was witness to the terrorist attacks over the years," finished Josh.

"And the media too," added Sam.

"Guys," Mikaela said through gritted teeth, "We're not supposed to talk about this..."

"Why?" asked Josh. Everyone glanced at Mikaela cautiously though it was an innocent question.

" Uh... sorry we have to go now.." said Brad hastily, sitting up and leaving.

"To where?" Josh was really puzzled now.

"Uhhh... my house..." said Sam quickly, "study group for mechanics class." He hurried out of the cafeteria with the others.

So Josh was left there sitting alone at the table, trying to finish his lunch. He couldn't shrug off the suspicion that his friends were hiding something. They never seemed to be around after school, even Miles. Strangely, all of them except for Josh decided to enroll into a mechanic's course.. except for Josh. He knew that they were hiding something from him... and he was the left out person. Sam was terrible at lying. His house wasn't even here, it was at Tranquility, Nevada. All of them lived in the student dorms here.

Josh, aka Hot Shot, couldn't help feeling a pang of loneliness as his spark longed for him to be with his friends again. Cyberwing, Silverstreak, Stormraider, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Hot Rod... not heard from countless vorns. Now, even his Earth friends keep leaving him out and are determine to keep him from finding out whatever secret they're hiding. Hot Shot could do nothing but shrug it off.


	3. Chapter 3: Discovered

Chapter 3: Discovered

Hot Shot sighed as he got back into his Lamborghini. He never even had a chance to show Alex and Stephen his brand new Lamborghini Concept Car. His car silver and streaks of black and white long it's sides, would make their mouths drop in awe for sure. Hot Shot ony recently learned that the Lamborghini, Corvette Stingray, Lotus, Ferrari and a few other cars are for the rich and elite. Just to see one of those cars on the street is like a miracle from heaven.

Opening the door to his car, Hot Shot slowly drove home. The Pretender keeps on wondering what the hell does his two best friends do all day in the military. Most of the time, their bore and confined to base, according to Sunny and Sides. But the "terrorist" attacks are always so sudden.

To pass off time in the base, Sunny and Sides would prank anyone around base. According to the two pranksters, their favorite targets are the three most serious and grumpiest soldiers of the unit, no names mentioned because of classified info.

Hot Shot sighed. If only his fellow Autobots were with him right now. Being marooned all alone on a unfamiliar planet sure is lonely. His thoughts went back to his Autobot friends. Cyberwing, Stormraider, Silverstreak, Hot Rod, and who could forget ultimate prankster twins Sunstreaker and Sideswipe? Hot Shot chuckled at the memories of him, Hot Rod, and the twins playing pranks on other Autobots.

Ironhide and Ratchet kept complaining to Optimus Prime to shut them in the brig, calling them the "Foxy Four", referring to their mischievous attitudes. HE was very sad when all of them left Cybertron and he had to stay behind.

"Where are they now?" Hot Shot wondered aloud, staring at the night sky as he drove down the road. Hearing no answers, Hot Shot growled in frustration as he turned on the radio.

_"it appears to be yet another band of asteroids entering the earth's atmosphere. Though, they didn't burn up like expected, scientists assure the general publis that the asteroid's speeds seemed to have been reduced greatly by the Earth's atmosphere and will land in southern Nevada, away from the general population and right outside of Tranquility, Nevada."_

Hot Shot frowned. There has been ALOT of asteroids entering Earth's atmosphere lately. Most just disappeared after entering the atmosphere. But the asteroids were relatively large, most about the size of an average family car. There's no way the asteroids can just burn up like that undetected. Unless... they are Cybertronians in their protoforms.

Skidding his car to a stop, Hot Shot realized that the asteroids HAD to be Cybertronians.

"Frag, why didn't I realize this sooner/ The slagging evidence was right in front of me!" he swore.

Turning the steering wheel like a maniac, Hot Shot quickly made a u-turn towards the outskirts of Tranquility.

* * *

After browsing the web to find out the exact landing coordinates for the asteroid, Hot Shot drove an hour away from Tranquility before almost running into a set of fences blocking the road. Because it was dark ad so were the fences, Hot Shot didn't see it until he was no less than 3 feet away from it, though he is car had its headlights on.

"What the frag is this ?" Hot Shot swore again, but this time he was heard.

"Hey you, entering this zone is restricted as of right now." A voice to Hot Shot's right sounded out, maing itself known.

Whipping his head around, Hot Shot found himself face to face with... "Sunny?" he asked in surprise.

"Joshua, what the fra... er... freak are you doing here? This area is under military investigation. Military personnel are investigating what the asteroids are right now."

"So, why are a few asteroids so important to the military. I mean, shouldn't it be collected for scientific study or something?

Sides suddenly appeared alongside Sunny, "Most of the info is classified... but these are not normal asteroids."

"Like... what?"

"Sorry dude, as much as I want to, I can't tell you."

But before Sides can say anything else, he was interrupted by a huge explosion. Several soldiers ran out of the zone, some looking at Hot Shot with disbelief. "Sideswipe! Sunstreaker! What's are civilian doing here?! He needs to get out now! The Decepticons are attacking!"

Hot Shot froze when he heard the names Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. He slowly peered at his friends Aex and Stephen. No way they can be his old friends... they looked perfectly human...

Before his processor could take in anymore information, Sides shouted at him, "RUN AWAY NOW! YOU'LL GET CRUSHED BY THE DECEPTICONS IF YOU DON'T GET AWAY FROM-" he got cut off by another explosion. Cursing, he and Sunny flickered and disappeared from thin air. Panicked and caught off guard, Hot Shot got out of the car to see what the frag is going on. What he saw stunned him.

Al around him, there were sounds of battle. Soldiers were firing, explosions everywhere. But what made Hot SHot really freeze was that there were GIANT ROBOTS battling each other. He fell into more shock when he caught sight of the Autobot insignia... there really were Autobots here on Earth.

Hot Shot didn't even have a chance to get out of his Pretender disguise when a missile came streaking his way. He braced for impact before realizing that the missile never hit him. Instead, it had been sot down by a silver and black Transformer, an Autobot, who was standing besides a yellow one.

The silver and black one picked Hot Shot up before peering at him with his blue eyes. "Look, Joshua... I can explain... we...," as if expecting Hot Shot to panic or something.

"Look, Sides, we can explain to him later but there are Decepticons we have to beat first!" Shouted the yellow Transformers.

Hot Shot forze with shock. "Sides... you're an Auto-"

"I can explain to you later but right now you have to hide somewhere ok?!" Sides said as he lowered Hot Shot back to the ground and tackled another Decepticon. Knowing that he can't possibly transform out of the Pretender disguise, he could only no and go hide behind some huge boulders.

The Autobots and what appeared to be their human allies trashed the Decepticons pretty quickly. It only took them about ten more minutes to send all the Decepticons running back, cryin for their femme creators. Hot Shot smirked to himself, now it's time to meet the Autobots and surprise them.


	4. Chapter 4: The Autobots

Chapter 4: The Autobots

Hot Shot struggled to organize his thoughts while he watched the rest of the Autobots beat the slag out of the Decepticons. First of all, how on Cybertron could the Autobots even have found this planet?! This was an uncharted world, too remote to show up on any long range scanners. Yet, there were about ten Autobots out in the battle field, kicking Decepticon aft.

Drawing a breath, Hot Shot surveyed his fellow Autobots. The silver-black Transformer and the yellow Transformer twin were, without a doubt, Alex and Stephen. Except that from what he was hearing, Alex was actually Sideswipe and Stephen was actually Sunstreaker. Hot Shot's old pranking buddies.

Fighting alongside the twins was a black mech with giant cannons, Ironhide, a lime-green Transformer that was a Search and Rescue Hummer H2, definitely that grumpy medic Ratchet, and a Transformer whose paint job looked just like Sunstreakers, except he had door wings and Hot Shot's scans showed that he had a broken-beyond-repair voice box... Bumblebee.

Turning around, Hot Shot also saw other Autobots whom he recognized s Mirage, Hound, Smokescreen, Prowl, Trailbreaker, Blaster, the Arcee triplets, and Quick Switch. Scurrying around the peds of the Autobots were what appeared to be human allies. Boy, did those soldiers know how to take down con.

Hot Shot watched in amazement at the maneuvers the soldiers did. Two of the men jumped from the servo of an Autobot and landed on a 'con's shoulders, wrapped a cable around his neck, and jumped down onto the ground... while firing stun guns at the most sensitive parts of a mech's head.

Suddenly, Hot Shot noticed a red and blue mech with a bad-ass flame design fighting with a silver mech with bood red optics. A chill ran down Hot Shot's back... that must be Megatron. Megatron was the most powerful mech on the battlefield, yet he was easily matched by his Autobot opponent. With a gasp, Hot Shot suddenly realized that he was seeing Optimus Prime. Even the great Autobot leader was here!

Hot Shot watched in total amazement as Optimus flipped, turned, and whirled around... turning a simple energon blade into a lethal killing machine. Dodging Megatron's own blade, Optimus whirled in a complet 360 and stabbed Megatron in the shoulder. Roaring in pain, Megatron finally seemed to reliaze that there was no beating the Autobots today.

"DECEPTICONS, RETREAT!" he shouted as Hot Shot can only grin to himself. Finally, some action. At the same time, the Decepticons transformed into their jet/car modes and blasted off, only leaving the triumphant Autobots and their human counterparts behind.

Hot Shot can only grin even more, things are about to get interesting.

* * *

As the Autobots and humans were celebrating their victory, Sides... formerly human Alex, suddenly remembered that Josh was still behind the boulders.

"Hey... um... guys, you see, right before the cons attacked, a human civilian drove up to investigate the meteor. He saw me and Sunny transform," the silver and black Autobot announced nervously.

"Sideswipe, you let a civilian see us?!" Ironhide growled in annoyance.

"Great, just what we need," Ratchet threw his arms up, exasperated.

"Now, Autobots. Since the human saw us... he may be perceived as our ally and the 'cons WILL attack him. We need to take this civilian under our protection," the loud yet gentle, firm voice of Optimus Prime sounded out. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, do you know this human?"

"Actually, we do," confirmed Sunstreaker. "He was one of our buddies back when we still attended Tranquility High. We still hang out with him sometimes. His designation is Joshua Henrichson but you can call him Josh."

"Where is he?"

"Sideswipe hid him behind some boulders, sir."

"Sideswipe, go fetch him."

"Yes, sir!"

Hot Shot flinched as Sideswipe/Alex hurried over to the boulder an picked him up, not used to a fellow Autobot towering over him. The mech didn't say a words as he gently set Hot Shot down in front of the Autobots. Some looked as if they expected the Pretender to looked panic.

"What's your name, young human?" Optimus Prime leaned down in front of him and addressed him in a gentle voice.

"Joshua Henrichson, reporting for duty, sir!" Hot Shot saluted.

"You're not surprised that we're giant alien robots?!"

"Well, no. Because... I know everything about you giant alien robots. Or should I say, Autonomous Robotic Organisms from Cybertron.. Autobots for short." Hot Shot can't keep the smirk off his face as he noticed the Autobots, even Optimus Prime, looked shocked.

Sideswipe was the first to speak up from the shocked silence, "But... how do you know all this. Only the world's governments and the US Military know about us."

"The truth is... Alex and Stephen, or I would much rather say, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, I'm an Autobot too." Hot Shot saw all the Autobots' cerulean optics widen in surprise, the twin's being the widest. Smirking, Hot Shot willed himself to transform into his true form, a giant alien robot.

What Sideswipe and the rest of the Autobots saw was Hot Shot's oganic shell being surrounded be a whirlpool of cackling electricity. In it, they heard the familiar sounds of an transforming Cybertronian. Metal scraping together, a robot unfurling itself, and the organic shell dissolving, Joshua Henrichson's form unfolded into a nearly 20 foot tall robot, just a little taller that Sideswipe.

Everyone's jaws dropped in awe. How can nearly 20 foot robot fit into such a tiny organic shell?! The newcomer had white-silver armor with black, white streaks running across his arms. It looked smug as it looked down the Autobots with electric blue optics. Immediately, Ironhide lit his cannons and growled at him," What's your designation? State it now of be terminated!"

"Ironhide," said Optimus Prime. "Calm down. We may not recognize the newcomer, he is indeed an Autobot. He bears the our insignia and even sent Ratchet an identification beacon."

"But what if he was a con in disguise? This won't be the first time!" Ironhide snarled, making Hot Shot cringe.

"We'll see about that. If he's a con, you have permission to execute him on sight." Hot Shot shivered at his leader's words. Ironhide backed off a bit, but still had his activated cannons trained on Hot Shot.

Optimus Prime then turned to him, "What is really your designation. It isn't Joshua Henrichson no is it?"

"No sir. My name is not Joshua Henrichson. It's only the human name I used as for a disguise on Earth. Me designation is Autobot Front Line Soldier Hot Shot."


	5. Chapter 5: Old Comrades and Friends

Chapter 5: Old Comrades and Friends

The Autobots can only stare at Hot Shot in shock as he blurted out stuff about the Allspark and Autonomous Robotic Organism of Planet Cybertron. They were even more surprised when Joshua's form transformed into a giant robot, an AUTOBOT! What the frag was going on here?!

"What is your designation Autobot?" Optimus Prime asked warily.

"Autobot Front Liner Hot Shot reporting for duty sir!" Hot Shot sated, servos raised against his metal forehead as a soldier's salute.

"Wait, did you say your name was _Hot Shot_?" asked Sideswipe in surprise.

Hot Shot only nodded in confirmation. Without warning, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and this electric blue Autobot... oh yeah that was Hot Rod... all ran up to him and embraced him in a groaning metal hug. Hot Shot can only smile as he was reunited with his old friends/ comrades.

"Looks like we have another Autobot joining our ranks on Earth," chuckled Optimus Prime.

Even though the trigger happy mech has backed down, Ironhide still couldn't stop himself from moaning, "Uhhhhhhhh! Why does it have to be Hot Shot out of all the mechs of Cybertron?! Now that the prankin' four is back, my life is going to be a living hell." Ratchet grunted in agreement.

"Apparently Ironhide, you're still my favorite victim, " Hot Shot remarked smartly. A glare from the addressed mech made him shut up.

"But Hot Shot," Sunstreaker asked in disbelief. "We knew you all along as Joshua Henrichson. Why didn't you tell us your true identity?"

"You didn't tell me that you guys were actually Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. Plus, even though get a feeling that you guys were hiding something, I thought this planet was too remote for Autobots to find."

"Not now," Hot Rod stated sheepishly. "The Autobots found this planet when we detected the Allspark here. Prime and his bots came here to search for the Allspark. After it got destroyed, Optimus sent a transmission out into space to all surviving Autobots."

Hot Shot, who was listening intently, was baffled. "Wait, what?! The Allspark... destroyed?!"

"Well you see... a few years ago-" Sunstreaker was interrupted when two bright comets streaked across the sky.

"We can explain everything later, but now we have to go greet the arriving Autobots," yelled Ratchet.

" Wait... I still have to scan a vehicle mode..." protested Hot Shot.

Everybody shot him a look. "I thought you had a pretender mode," Hot Rod slowly said.

"Yeah, but I HATE being a Pretender 'kay? The only reason I even have that disgiuse is because there are some Cons who still might be looking for me and there was veicle nearby from where I crashed," Hot Sot shouted back.

"Hurry, the new Autobots are quickly approaching ground zero," warned Prowl.

Huffing in irritation, Hot Shot quickly scanned his now smashed Lamborghini Concept Car (he was still in protoform and his beautiful car was now SMASHED thx to some no-good Cons...). Transforming, the Autobots quickly loaded the still clueless humans into them just as the meteors crashed a few hundred yards away.

Hot Shot drove to the crash sight with his buddies flanking his sides. "Hot Shot, it's really nice to see you again.." Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Hot Rods said as they snuggled closely to Hot Shot.

"Yeah, me too...the Con Crusher Coalition is finally coming back together.."

* * *

NEST soldiers William Lennox and Sergeant Epps was riding in the huge semi that happened to be Optimus' alt. mode. The two soldiers, along with the rest of the NEST personnel, were extremely confused on what was going on.

"Prime, who was that newcomer?" William asked, puzzled.

Optimus chuckled in amusement. " That, my friends, was an Autobot Front Liner called Hot Shot. He used to be in a small of well-known gestalt called the Con Crusher Coalition. Apparently, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Hot Rod also used to be part of the same group. Together these are major troublemakers."

"Pranksters?" Epps couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice. William rolled his eyes. Even though Epps was as the same age as he was, the jackass still loved to join in pranks set up the the Twins and Hot Rod.

"Most-annoying-on-Cybertron pranksters," Optimus corrected.

"Soooo, how was it that Hot Shot transformed into a human?" William pressed on.

"What you saw back there is what we call a Pretender Disguise. The Pretender disgiuse allows it's wearer to transform into any kind of life form. In Hot Shot's case, the flesh and blood was merely a shell surrounding his metal body."

"And what exactly is the Con Crusher Coalition?"

"They were a gestalt famous for their reputation when it comes to, in reference to the name, crushing cons. The little group of seven was led by the Autobot Stormraider."

"You said seven, but we only met four so far," Epps pointed out.

"Cyberwing and Silverstreak is still out there somewhere in space as far as I know it. Stormraider.." the leader's voice grew quiet as grief took over. " He sacrificed himself so the last of the Autobots could escape Cybertron..."

"I'm sorry... I should've never asked you about that," apologized Epps.

"Stormraider will always be remembered," Optimus let out a sigh. "Now let's see who the newcomers are." He and the rest of the Autobots have pulled up to the crash sight.

* * *

An assortment of a flamed semi, Search and Rescue Hummer H2, GMC Topkick, police cars, mustangs, military jeeps and tons of sports cars must've astounded any by passer. Over half of those vehicles transformed into giant robots.

"Autobots, ready your weapons," Prime ordered. "Decepticons are known for setting up traps for using fake identification beacons."

The Autobots nodded as the smoking metal pods began to unfurl. Pointing their weapons, the Autobots saw two new mechs emerge, looking very confused. The humans became totally lost, again, as the two new arrivals spoke to the others in Cybertronian.

**"Whoa...take it easy guys," **both raise thier servos, as if surrendering.

**"Wait a minute. Cyberwing, Silverstreak...is that you?"** Hot Shot asked, lowering down his cannon slightly.

"**Hot Shot! How have you been?" **the two bots rushed up and bumped fists with Hot Shot.

"**Hey! Don't tell me you forgot about us!" **Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Hot Rod shouted indignantly in unison. t

"**Sideswipe, Sunstreaker Hot Rod!" ** the smaller of the bots, Silverstreak, yelled in delight.

The trio grinned as Cyberwing, and Silverstreak pulled them plus Hot Rod into another tight metal hug. The Autobots grinned at the scene their seeing. Only Ironhide was doing facepalm after facepalm.

Optimus explained the whole situation to the NEST soldiers, who seemed stunned by the arrival of the rest of the Con Crusher Coalition.

**"THE CON CRUSHER COALITION IS FINALLY REUNITED!" ** the six reunited Autobots shouted out in Cybertronian, then four of them repeated that in English.

Ironhide groaned. Great now that the Con Crusher Coalition is finally back... things are about to get a whole lot more interesting...


End file.
